Landscape with the Flight into Egypt by Herri met de Bles

Landscape with the Flight into Egypt 1500 - 1550

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painting, oil-paint, wood

narrative-art

painting

oil-paint

landscape

oil painting

wood

genre-painting

history-painting

northern-renaissance

academic-art

Dimensions: 36 cm (height) x 57 cm (width) (Netto)

Herri met de Bles created this oil on panel painting, Landscape with the Flight into Egypt, in the 16th century. While religious narratives were common in Early Netherlandish art, placing such subjects within the context of a sweeping landscape was distinctive. The composition divides into foreground and background, with an emphasis on depth and detail. The narrative scene, taken from the New Testament, is almost secondary to the landscape, which is teeming with activity. This shift towards landscape as a primary subject reflects a changing cultural focus, moving away from purely religious subjects. The inclusion of everyday life and the natural world suggests a society increasingly interested in earthly matters, reflecting a move towards humanism and empirical observation. Understanding such historical context, through careful research and study, allows us to interpret the painting not just as a religious scene but as a mirror reflecting the evolving values of its time.

Comments

statensmuseumforkunst over 1 year ago

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A tree in the middle of the painting divides the vast mountain landscape into two halves: the good and holy on one side and the evil and dissolute on the other. The drawing's motif On a small path in the foreground to the left Joseph is seen following Mary riding on a donkey holding the Infant Jesus in her arms. Their piety and spiritual demeanour causes a gilt statue of a heathen god to tumble to the ground as they pass it by. In the middle ground to the right a merry company comes riding in a cart. Their doings denounce them as the advocates of the Seven Deadly Sins. For example, the company is led by a man playing the bagpipes – a symbol of infidelity. Herri met de Bles and Herry de Patenier Herri met de Bles is believed to be the same person as a Herry de Patenier who was received as a master of the St. Luke’s Guild in Antwerp in 1535. He may have been related to his great idol Joachim Patenier (ca. 1480-1524), who can be credited with establishing a canon for the so-called ”Weltlandschaft” in which the eye is led through a wide panoramic landscape ranging from warm brown colours in the foreground to cool greens and distant blues.